How to Revitalize a Stale Recruiting Process

Radical Revision of Hiring Processes Antiquated hiring procedures -- like written tests, formal interview meetings with HR directors in sterile office space, quick reference checks and making decisions based on a "gut feeling" about a prospective employee -- are often proven to be unacceptable in the 21st century. Given that the cost of hiring talent is substantial (salary plus insurance, benefits, etc.), it behooves HR leaders to come up with innovative hiring practices.

Three project goals and three project objectives One goal is to omit the old style of interviewing, which entails collecting and sorting through resumes, calling references, and interviewing candidates in boring, stale environments. A second goal is to involve existing, proven company talent to be a major part of the selection process.

A third goal is to bring new talent on board that represent diversity in background, that show intellect, and strong aptitude for the quickly grasping the tasks they will need to perform -- and not just prospective, "filtered" employees that have experience. Filtered employees are those who are familiar with the company (maybe actually work for the company), have learned "in a particular thought processes .. and create thinking processes based on the limited, narrow experiences learned and believed" in this company or in a firm that is similar (Kerfoot, 2013).

That third goal means looking for an unfiltered candidate because unfiltered leaders are "complementary to organizations that need innovation and new pathways for the future," Kerfoot explains. The first objective is to bring new talent on board that can light a fire under every project assigned to them; talent with enthusiasm and the ability to quickly embrace the existing culture and yet offer new energy and ideas. The second objective is to minimize the need to re-hire by making smart HR moves which involve hiring and keeping top talent.

The third objective is to offer flexible work schedules, give generous paid leave perks, and provide child care and other helpful practices that show employees they are part of the company family. Key customers and two stakeholders Dependable Dairy is a dairy products firm, producing milk, butter, ice cream, probiotics, yogurt, and frozen disserts.

The customers are families with children, people trying to get fit (or maintaining fitness), people that use probiotics, sports fans at ball games that love ice cream, restaurants that use dairy products, and schools that offer free milk for low income students. Three stakeholders: the company directors, the employees of the company, the families of the employees, the vendors, and the community in which the company operates.

Three key milestones and/or deliverables The first milestone is when the HR department trains three top employees that have been with the company and have shown leadership in each department they have been assigned to. These employees will be trained to conduct interviews of candidates for jobs in the company. The second milestone is when the three trusted, talented employees develop recruiting strategies (with input from HR professionals) that are designed to appeal to the kind of talent that Dependable Dairy wishes to hire.

As part of the second milestone these three employees (that are given an additional week of vacation during the following year) design highly attractive recruiting art -- online, on college and high school campuses, and in stores and coffee shops where young people congregate -- that uses Hollywood movie themes. Also part of the creative, outside-the-box recruiting process: the three produce 15-second funny commercials to be shown in area movie theaters right before the previews.

The spots can even be off the wall -- think the Geico commercials on television -- but they are creative and eye-catching. The third milestone is the actual interview process. After resumes have been thoroughly reviewed, the three (with HR talent) actually visit the references personally to vet the candidates. Actually interviewing the reference reveals more about the candidate. Then the three (in two's) take the finalists to a coffee shop or a quiet restaurant for the interviews. Getting the candidates out of the company's environment refreshes the interviewing process.

Also, each candidate is given a creative assignment as homework to be completed before the follow-up interview. The high-level timeline of hiring activities: a) in March, training gifted employees to help in the hiring process;.